government proclaimed a "State of Internal War" on April 15, 1972 and the elected Congress enacted, at the request of the Executive, various measures that temporarily suspended rights guaranteed in the 1967 Constitution. On July 10, 1972, the Congress enacted "The Law of National Security. With the total destruction of the Tupamaros and their organization by the military's own admission in early 1973, the explicit purpose underlying the Congress' approval of these extraordinary measures was effectively vitiated. However, rather than moving to restore the exercise of these suspended rights, Uruguay's President, backed by the armed forces, but without the approval of the Congress, decreed on June 1, 1973 an indefinite suspension of various constitutional rights. The military's insistence on an increasingly direct role in political decision-making culminated in the events of June 27, 1973. On that day, Uruguay's President, supported by the armed forces, illegally dissolved the elected Congress and all locally elected legislative bodies and transferred the Congress' legislative powers to a newly created Council of State, whose "This law, which continues in effect today, suspends certain rights of persons charged with "subversive activities" and transferred from civil to military courts jurisdiction over civilians charged with such security offenses. This law also superseded the declaration of "the State of Internal War. members were nominated by the President of the Republic. Finally, on June 12, 1976, the Armed Forces removed from office the elected President and installed a "provisional" President. In July, 1981, the armed forces designated retired General Gregorio Alvarez as President. Their decision was rubber stamped on August 15 by the Council of the Nation. The Military Governmental Structure Since June 27, 1983, Uruguay's military government has adopted a series of legal measures that have resulted in the complete destruction of constitutional government, of the rule of law, and of virtually all individual rights guaranteed in the 1967 Constitution despite the fact that the situation that precipitated the adoption of measures temporarily suspending basic individual rights had ceased to exist. Specifically, through a series of so-called Institutional Institutional Acts, the military has transformed and taken control of the country's three branches of government and entire administrative apparatus. Act No. 2 created the Council of the Nation, composed of the 25 members of the Council of State and the 24 officers comprising the high command of the armed forces (Junta de Oficiales Generales). This body appoints the country's President, the members of the Council of State, and all other important governmental authorities. The military has an effective veto power since a two-thirds majority is needed for all Council decisions. Under Institutional Act No. 8, the civilian judiciary similarly lost its independence. Two military officers are members of the Court of Justice, successsor to the Supreme Court, and a new Ministry of Justice, established by Institutional Act No. 3, acts as a "liaison" between the judiciary and the military controlled executive power. The Military Government's Human Rights Record (1973-1980) All of these measures have enabled Uruguay's military government to commit gross violations of the most basic human rights with utter impunity for the past ten years. Since 1973, all constitutional safeguards, including habeas corpus, have been suspended. Thousands of suspected "subversives" have been tried by military courts without due process and imprisoned for such crimes as "insulting the morale of the armed forces" and "disrespect to military authorities." The great majority have been tried for acts, whatever the date of the offense, that were legal under preexisting laws. Hundreds of others have been administratively detained without charge or trial for months, even years without any legal recourse. ing Since 1974, over 100 Uruguayan citizens, includ 9 children and pregnant women, have disappeared both within and outside of Uruguay. Eyewitness testimonies and other credible evidentiary sources confirm that 93 Uruguayans, many of whom were under the official protection of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, were abducted in Argentina by Uruguayan government operatives and subsequently transferred to Uruguay in flagrant violation of international conventions to which both countries are parties. International and Regional Organizations' Condemnation of Uruguay's Military Government The persistence of Uruguay's grave human rights violations has been denounced repeatedly by international organizations and prominent groups. Since publication of its 1978 Report, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has published several annual updates on Uruguay's human rights violations, and the Organization of American States' General Assembly has consistently requested Uruguay to curb these abuses and implement the In addition, the United Nations' Human Rights Committee, charged with monitoring and protecting the rights guaranteed in the International Covenent on Civil and Political Rights, published on August 31, 1979 and May 7, 1981, for the first time in any case, its conclusion that Uruguay had seriously violated the most basic rights protected in the Covenant. In October 1979, the International Labor Organization, at a regional meeting, condemned Uruguay for its continuing repression of workers and their unions. The Ninety-Three members of the World InterParliamentary Union, at their annual meeting in September 1979, unanimously passed a resolution condemning Uruguay for its continuing human rights abuses. In December 1979, the two major political rights groups of the European Parliament similarly protested Uruguay's human rights record, indicating that this situation posed a serious obstacle to improving relations between Uruguay and EEC members. Moreover, since March, 1978 until recently, Uruguay has been one of the few countries on which the United Nations' Human Rights Commission annually has held private meetings and taken confidential measures under procedures set forth in ECOSOC Resolution 1503 (1971) -this resolution concerns situations which reveal a consistent pattern of gross violations of human rights. This is the identical legal standard incorporated by the Congress in Section 502 (B) of the Foreign Assistance Act. Political Prisoner Population in Uruguay For the past ten years, Uruguay has had one of the highest ratios of prisoners to population in the world, ranging from a high of around 10,000 in 1975 to 800 in |